


Tempering

by esama



Series: Iron Desmond [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Don't copy to another site, Identity Porn, M/M, Minor Character Death, Terrorists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24624928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esama/pseuds/esama
Summary: "You're really excited about this mission, aren't you? Getting impatient."Phil doesn't dignify that with an answer. It's the world's first autonomous humanoid robot with a proper AI. And not only that, but Fury is seriously considering Iron Man for the Initiative.Of coursehe's excited.
Relationships: Desmond Miles/Tony Stark
Series: Iron Desmond [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757992
Comments: 114
Kudos: 1988





	Tempering

**Author's Note:**

> Proofread by Nimadge

Tony Stark is a very difficult man to get a hold of. What Phil had assumed would be a few days' mission had already stretched over months as he made requests and appeals for a meeting with the suddenly extremely exclusive and elusive Mr. Stark, and he kept getting the busy signal at all turns.

What had been a very outgoing and oft-seen celebrity had gone and turned a hermit on them, and during the first weeks of his assignments, Phil found that he wasn't the only one somewhat frustrated by the change. Whereas before you could go to any number of celebrity events, galas, and maybe random casinos and have a 50/50 chance of running into a drunken Tony Stark there, now… now the public appearances could be counted with one hand, with fingers left over. And with a waiting list some forty people deep just to talk to Stark's _personal assistant_ , Phil was starting to despair getting hold of the man.

"We know where he lives – why not march up to his house and slap him with a warrant?" Natasha asks thoughtfully, when Phil complains about this over junk food and bad romance movies.

"I have a deep and abiding fear of murder robots," Phil says flatly.

He doesn't, really. Stark seems to have a steel reign on the Iron Man. Or, alternatively, Iron Man is simply not a violent being. Phil has enough of Tony Stark on file to have personality profiles on the robots and AI he'd built and a couple of near-sworn statements from his childhood friend and military liaison, Colonel Rhodes – Tony Stark did not build _killer robots_.

By Phil's estimation, Stark could've likely made millions in military contracts by taking his brain child, JARVIS, and turning him into military tactical AI of some kind – but Stark never had. And, despite the fact that the man has had the ability to create learning-AI's as he called since early nineties, he had never put a single one on any of his targeting systems – not even the few unmanned drones he built.

There is one interview, or rather a slip during a military function, where Colonel Rhodes had obviously had too much to drink, where a reporter had asked the man, "Colonel Rhodes, when can we expect Stark AI's to replace pilots for unmanned flights?"

Rhodes had laughed, shaken his head, and said in baffled sort of sincerity, "Tony would never – he loves those babies of his more than he loves anything else. He'd never put a gun in their hands."

Except, now he has – and in one fell swoop he created the most efficient killing machine in the world… to quote sensationalist media, anyway.

Phil has gone through every single _frame_ of footage of Iron Man, and for all of his weaponry, armour and obvious sophistication, there's never a single threatening gesture from the robot. He stands behind Stark, straight-backed and still, and looks from person to person, and then dismisses them as threats and simply waits for Stark to move on. It's impressive, but the anticipated moment of the _killer robot goes haywire and kills innocent civilians_ never happens.

So, Phil doesn't _fear_ the robot. Not that he ever did, the whole thing is too fascinating, really – but he knows there's nothing _to fea_ r for him in particular. So as long as he shows Stark no hostility, he doubts the robot will be a threat to his person.

… but that's the awkward thing about trying to approach the man – at this point, he's not sure he can swing it without resorting to underhanded methods. Warrant could be it, but… likely Stark Industries lawyers would pounce on it, and dragging SHIELD into the mire that is numerous agencies looking to put Stark on trial for his creations… well, it isn't precisely on the top of Phil's list of priorities. There's a _lot_ of special interest for Stark's inventions currently, on both sides, and that's not a fight Phil wants to expand resources or energy on.

He doesn't really want to step on Stark's toes anyway. Bad start for a working relationship, that.

"I need a carrot, not a stick," Phil muses, reaching for the popcorn. "What's the word on Obadiah Stane?"

Natasha tilts her head. "He took a secret plane off a secret airport and everyone lost him," she says. "Why, do you want me to look into it? I figured someone was already covering it, what with him being a traitor and charged with treason."

"Probably," Phil muses and takes out his phone, sending a quick text message. The movie has an awkward break up scene between the romantic leads before he gets an answer. "Sitwell's covering it."

"Ah," Natasha says. They exchange looks and Phil puts the phone away. "I'm sure he could be persuaded to share," Natasha says after a while. "I could have a chat with him."

Phil smiles a little at that – Sitwell, like about third of their agents, is deathly afraid of Natasha. "Would you?"

"Bring me into your team, and sure, done," Natasha says and sighs. "Fury was rumbling something about Hungary the last we talked, and I really don't want to go to Hungary this time of the year."

Phil smiles and leans back, taking some popcorn again. "Done," he says and then nods to the screen. "Rain – the final confession scene will happen when it's raining, and neither will have an umbrella."

"By the river with the cute bridge and lights," Natasha agrees with a nod and tucks her toes under his thigh. "And she will have a packed up suitcase. Bet you twenty bucks, the suitcase is going to bust open and spill all over the bridge."

"No bet – you picked the movie, you already know how it ends."

"I don't – what's the point in watching it if I already know what happens in it?" Natasha asks innocently and grins at his eyeroll. "You're really excited about this mission, aren't you? Getting impatient."

Phil doesn't dignify that with an answer. It's the world's first autonomous humanoid robot with a proper AI. And not only that, but Fury is seriously considering Iron Man for the Initiative.

 _Of course_ he's excited.

* * *

It takes another two weeks before they get anything on Obadiah Stane, and by that point the matter is becoming slightly more urgent.

So far, Iron Man's appearances can be filed into two distinctive categories. Appearances immediately following Afghanistan, when the robot still had an outer chassis made of former Stark Industries Surface to Air Missiles – a rough, rather cyberpunk look of something built from scrap which a lot of people miss because apparently it gave the robot _character._ Then, post update appearances, where Stark had upgraded the robot, giving it a whole new armour plating, none of which looked hammered. This appearance went through two iterations, one un-painted and the other adorned with some white amidst unpainted, chrome plates. In both of these types of appearances, the Iron Man could predominantly be seen standing behind his maker, impassable and silent.

Silent, except for one moment of captured footage at the foot of Stark Industries home office building, where a reporter asked Iron Man a question and he answered, "No comment," before heading quickly inside. Thankfully Phil already knew that Iron Man could talk, from reports in Afghanistan, otherwise it might've come out as something of a shock.

And now this.

"Heard from Nat you were interested," Clint messages him, before sending him a short, thirty second video. The footage is shaky, taken with an extremely long lens, and shows a somewhat blurry image of what Phil immediately recognises as Stark's mansion – as seen from the seaside.

It shows a gleaming, briefly _glowing_ figure rising from the mansion, doing a loose lap over it before taking sharply up and into the sky. It's only for a moment, and the distance at which the video is taken makes it impossible to see details – but it's definitely a humanoid shape.

"And why were you anywhere near Stark's house?" Phil sends back suspiciously. On a _boat_ too, as the video had the distinctive weaving and bobbing of a ship's deck.

"Omw south, got a cartel to make friends with," Clint answers. "Figured, since I was passing by, might as well take a look. This is the part where you say _thank you_ , boss."

"Thank you. Stay away from this, the situation is volatile enough without adding you into the mix."

"Aww. You added Nat, though. That's worse."

Coulson doesn't bother replying – instead he spends an hour or so going through the video frame by frame, isolating the ones where you could tell the flying figure has arms and legs, and considering them at length. The detail is terrible and there's not much to go on, but... Stark made his robot fly. Just what he needs, potential airspace violations to cut into the already too long queue of people trying to get in touch with Stark.

… damn if it's not the most extraordinary thing he's seen since the footage on Banner's transformation. And Phil is among the first people to find out about it. Incredible. 

Maybe he should go back to his original plan of stalking Virginia Potts and camping near Stark Industries home office, hoping to catch the lady off guard. Not that _that_ was working any better than going through the official channels is, seeing that Miss Potts had become nearly as exclusive as Mr. Stark, and had not made an appearance at a party all spring.

Maybe he could try approaching the situation via Colonel Rhodes…

Natasha saves him, in the end. "Found him," she sends, along with a picture taken of a rather opulent looking white stone mansion, where Obadiah Stane was seen lounging on a marble balcony with a cigar on his lips and drink in hand. Judging by the looks of it, the man was making himself comfortable there – and he'd lost none of his expensive demeanour, even the suit was impeccable.

"He just bought himself a palace, under a false name, and he's going to be having dinner with some of the Middle East's finest terrorists," Natasha reports to him with some smugness. "How's that for a carrot?"

She sends him all the details to go with the picture, and Phil picks up his phone for one final attempt of arranging a meeting with Mr. Stark and his bodyguard.

* * *

Iron Man has gone through a total overhaul, Phil finds. The robot is a whole lot bulkier now, likely to make more space for the flight systems – with much heftier legs and much more complicated hands and arms. The robot has also gone through another paint job – less white and chrome and more gold and red.

"Lovely, isn't he?" Stark asks without any hint of modesty, when he catches Phil staring at the robot. "The red was a bit of a gamble, but damn, it goes beautifully with the gold titanium."

"I'm sure it does," Phil answers and offers his hand to Stark. "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Mr. Stark. I'm not sure if you're aware, but I've been trying to arrange it for a while now."

"Yes, we have – what was it, hundred forty seven? Appeals from you and Strategic Homeland – uh."

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistic Division," Phil supplies.

"Oof. You really gotta work on that name," Stark says, looks at the hand, and then clears his throat and turns to motion to Iron Man. "You know my bodyguard, of course, everyone does…."

Phil lets the faux pas go with a smile and turns to the robot instead, still offering his hand. It takes a moment before Iron Man accepts it, and unless Phil is entirely mistaken, he's very careful not to exert too much pressure. "Pleasure to meet you as well – do you prefer to go by the name Iron Man, or…?"

Initially the robot was called DESMOND in the reports made by Colonel Rhodes and the members of the Air Force who had taken part in the Ten Rings investigation. Phil had read no less than eight accounts where it was expressly stated that Stark called the robot DESMOND, referred to him by male pronouns, and an analysis of the Ten Rings few surviving files and emails implied that the robot, like JARVIS before him, had been named after the deceased – a fellow captive who hadn't made it. The name DESMOND had never been publicised, however – in all public statements Stark Industries media reps referred to him as Iron Man, and so had Stark, in the few comments he'd made.

There's a moment, during which Stark's eyebrows arch with surprise. Then the robot speaks, saying, "... Iron Man is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Agent Coulson." His voice is different in the new armour – more mechanical, echoing. Louder too – it was fairly quiet before, according to what few clips of him talking there were. More tech there, it seems, and new speakers too.

Interesting.

Coulson smiles and then looks at Stark. He definitely has the man's attention now – there's a downright calculating look in the man's eyes. "Right," Stark says and claps his hands together, before taking a seat in one of the couches. "You and everybody have been trying to arrange a meeting or dozen – but I'm a busy man, and I figure the only way to make things fair for everybody was to turn everybody down equally."

"Until now," Phil comments.

"Well, you did something new, caught my interest – sit down, Agent, you're making my bodyguard nervous."

Phil takes a seat. The couch feels professionally expensive under him, with a backrest that feels ergonomically designed. Stark had chosen the not-so-neutral location of Stark Industries head offices, which had proven out to be still semi-deserted. The internal investigation was still ongoing, and due to its seriousness, over 90% of the staff that usually worked there were either working from home or on paid leaves – or under arrest, depending on the person.

They're sitting in a public lounge, and there's no one there.

"So," Stark says. "Do you want to do your pitch first and bore me with your agency's vested interest in my personal business, or are you going to tell me about Stane?"

Phil considers his approach, looking between Stark in his expensive, spotless suit, and Iron Man, gleaming red and gold and standing still beside the armchair in which his creator sits. "I expect most agencies would begin with the first," he muses. While he had not seen any other appeals made to Stark, he had talked with representatives from other agencies looking to make contact with Stark, and it was largely the same spiel.

Stark and his invention pose a risk to _insert a right, institution or patriotic concept here_ and must be brought under control of _insert agency here_.

Stark arches his brows. "So tell me, agent, what makes you different?" he says, and he sounds bored already.

Phil smiles. "Mr. Stark, I wanted to debrief you on the circumstances of your escape from Ten Rings' captivity, initially, but later reports by the USAF made that largely unnecessary. Since then you've gone forth and made the… means of your escape fairly public, so I won't bore you with the obvious."

"Yeah – this is the part where you say your agency has taken special interest, you want to take charge of Iron Man, and as payment you can make all my troubles go away?" Stark asks and gives him a wry look. "It's been offered already."

"We don't want to take Iron Man from you, Mr. Stark, in fact, your handling of the situation is likely the most… optimal solution," Phil says calmly. Though, there was the _between the lines_ suggestions from the World Security Council in his orders that went along the lines of _if_ he could do it without people knowing and _if_ they could get away with it, then _maybe_ Iron Man would be best kept in SHIELD hands… But those weren't Fury's orders. Nor did they line up with Phil's read on the situation.

"What, then?" Stark asks, now giving him a slightly more concerned look – it's subtle, but his eyes sharpen.

"Iron Man represents a paradigm shift to the world – though not in the way I think you believe," Coulson says. "We've had… entities of considerable firepower before this – the most famous historical example being Captain America. Iron Man differs from the previous such cases in two ways – he is _current_ and he is _public_."

Stark's eyes narrow at that and he shifts where he sits, leaning forward a little. "Okay," he says. "Now that just makes me think you think I won't be making more of them."

"I don't, no. Going by your history, Mr. Stark, you do not produce copies of your AIs," Phil comments. "Even if they could by their nature be mass-produced… you never do. They are as unique to you as regular born and bred people. Aren't they?"

He definitely has the man's interest now – and his suspicion. Stark's eyes narrow, and then he glances at Iron Man. "Colour?"

"Blue," the robot answers. 

"Huh," Stark says and turns back to Phil. "Well, Agent, you're right, you're absolutely right. And I'm not sure how I feel about you knowing that."

Especially since the only thing keeping Stark Industries floating now is the hope that they would eventually make Iron Man their new business model. If it got out that Stark has no interest in producing more Iron Men, it would likely tank their company's value.

"I have no interest in spreading it around, you have my word on that," Phil says. "Nor do I have interest in your company business – my interest is in other matters. Namely, in protecting this nation, and this world, from potential threats."

Now he definitely has the interest of not only Stark, but Iron Man too – the robot actually lowers his chin to look at Phil head on.

"Aliens?" Stark asks, flatly. "Little green men?"

"In our experience, they've never been little or green," Phil says. "But yes, sometimes. Largely the threats we deal with are more homegrown variety – such as Obadiah Stane. SHIELD works, among many other things, for national and global security, and a large chunk of that consists of counter-terrorism. As in, fighting organisations such as the Ten Rings. And Obadiah Stane seems to be in the business of funding them."

Stark lets out a breath and leans back. "And you know where he is, and… what?" he asks, frowning. "What do you want us to do about it?"

"I assumed you might have a… _vested interest_ in the matter," Phil comments. "And that you might want to see him brought to justice. Our agency is tracking his activities in the Middle East and, quite frankly Mr. Stark… I want to bring Iron Man in."

"I'm sorry?" Stark asks slowly.

Phil gives him a look and then looks up at Iron Man. "We want to take Obadiah Stane down, hopefully capture him and whoever's with him alive. And we would very much like Iron Man to be part of the task force."

* * *

"How did it go?" Natasha asks over the phone, with the sounds of traffic coming through from her side.

"Well, it wasn't an immediate _no_ ," Phil answers, rubbing at his chin and rethinking his approach.

Stark was a tricky one to nail down – his personality profile would have to be completely redone, very little of previous intel applies anymore. Traumatic experiences will do that, as does the sudden uptick in power levels, and yet Stark showed very little of the sort of self-destructive impulses you might expect from a guy who'd gone through the massive personal betrayal as well as physical injury, before coming into possession of a new and hitherto unknown power.

Phil had seen men in _semi_ similar conditions reacting in various ways, and rarely did they show as much caution as Stark had. Stark had not been thrilled by the suggestion of Iron Man working with SHIELD on Stane's potential capture, but he hadn't shut Phil down either. He'd been _concerned_ , thoughtful and doubtful, and yet he'd also been a little bit curious. Iron Man might not be a superpower, specifically – but he is something akin to one, and Phil had bet on Stark wanting to flex, to test him out – to see how far he would go.

Stark had proven much more cautious than he'd expected though.

"I gave him what we have on Stane, sans his location, and Stark was interested in that at least," Phil muses. "And I think he will offer his help there if he can, but I'm not sure he's comfortable with sending Iron Man out on his own."

"Hmm," Natasha answers. "Then – don't. Bring Stark in too – as much as we can. We'll find him a nice hotel to hole up in, set him up with some toys…"

Phil smiles a little. "Well, that's an idea," he muses. One he entertained too, but on the other hand…

Taking Stark back into Afghanistan, back into the potential danger zone, back under risk of all manner of harm. If something happened to the guy while Iron Man was performing for SHIELD, and then the robot came back to find his boss injured or worse…

If Stark was hard to get a read on, Iron Man was impossible to read. All there was to go on was a single word the robot had spoken in Phil's presence and _blue_ didn't really say much. It seemed to settle Stark a little, so maybe the robot had means to track people's heartbeats and blue was their code word for _no obvious signs of lying._

"Ideal situation would be for Stark to stay here, and safe, and Iron Man to come with us," Phil muses. "But I don't know if Stark will stand for that, and I don't know what Iron Man thinks – he didn't exactly share with the class." Which was a pity, really. Phil would've loved to be able to actually talk with the robot, hear what he had to say – but Stark had rather dominated the discussion.

"Well, there's still time," Natasha answers, and judging by the sound of it, she's stretching. "Is Iron Man really a _he_?" she asks then curiously.

"That's how Rhodes refers to Iron Man in his reports, and according to previous intel, all Stark AI come with genders," Phil answers and doesn't quite manage to keep himself from grinning a little. "Better err on the side of being polite, I've found, when dealing with killer robots."

Natasha chuckles. Though Phil can't see her, he can tell just by the sound what she's thinking. Something along the lines of _aww, you nerd._ "So," she says then. "Shall I hold the fort here, or do you need backup over there?"

"Let's give it a few days – Stark promised to get in touch with me tomorrow," Phil says. "We'll see how it goes."

* * *

Stark has some conditions, which for some reason surprise Phil a little. Of course there would be conditions, they're dealing with likely hundreds of millions worth of technology here – still, the old personality profile sticks to his mind, and he half expected Stark to exhibit his old careless and devil-may-care attitude.

Not so. Stark has a _list_. It's not a short

"… if SHIELD tries to scan him, there'll be hell to pay," Stark reads from it, misleadingly casual and yet not casual at all. "If he gets EMP'd while working with you, there will be hell to pay. If _anything_ happens to him and I get the _slightest_ of inkling that SHIELD was responsible, there will be hell to pay. Also – big brother's watching," he adds and taps his temple. "I have direct line to everything Iron Man sees, and trust me, if that line gets interrupted for one _nano second_ –"

"There will be hell to pay?" Phil asks wryly, his smile having become somewhat fixed by that point.

"He's getting it," Stark says, delighted, pointing at Phil and looking at Iron Man, like a proud school teacher. "Excellent. Now that that's settled – this will be a one time deal, alright? We're only agreeing to this to get Stane back to the States so that he can face justice – after that's done, so are we. Also I am assuming you will be taking charge of dealing with legalities, country borders and whatnot – if bringing Iron Man in breaks laws, that's your fault."

"It has already been settled," Phil assures him and selects the appropriate folder with the appropriate contract. "Iron Man will be employed by SHIELD as an independent military contractor. All I need for you two is to sign this…"

Stark looks at the folder with a thoughtful expression and then steps back. "Have at it," he says and Iron Man steps forward and takes the folder from Phil's hands without a word.

It's fascinating, how delicate the robot's control is – despite the bulkiness of his fingers, he opens the folder dexterously and looks at the papers inside, turning pages without any trouble or tearing. Each page gets a moment. Then Iron Man says, "JARVIS has issues with paragraphs 8, 12, 13 ,14, 23 and 24."

Phil doesn't let his smile drop at Stark takes the folder from his robot bodyguard's hands and looks over the aforementioned paragraphs. "8 is just legal jargon, it doesn't actually mean anything," he says dismissively. "Just a catch all in case they have to sue me… 12 to 14 is some bullshit, agreed there – and yeah, 23 and 24 are right out. Yeah."

Phil sighs. Of course. "Very well, how would you like the contract adjusted?" he asks. "We do need some legal security on our end as well in case things go south, Mr. Stark, I hope you understand that."

Stark gives him a look like he knows exactly what he means and doesn't appreciate the insinuation. "I'm sure we can figure out something," he says and closes the folder, handing it over. "Have your people call my people, and let them hash it out."

So lawyers on both ends meet and the contracts get rewritten, twice, before Stark, Iron Man and apparently JARVIS are all three satisfied, and Fury gives the contract a pass with, "Damn, I knew the bastard would be trouble." Overall, though, the contract doesn't take nearly as long as it could've, had Stark been in the mood to stall – Phil watches the contracts being signed just a day later, and gets his copies immediately after.

He can't help but comment on the care Stark is taking, though. The man's historically known for being somewhat lax when legalities of weapons testing and such were concerned – never mind contracts. He was more of a _sleep with the trouble now, and have them sign an NDA afterwards_ kind of guy. Operative word here being _was,_ apparently.

Stark shrugs, nonchalant. "What can I say, Iron Man is my baby, and I take care of my baby," Stark says, all but leering at the robot. "Isn't that right?"

Somehow, even with immobile, impassive metal face plate, Iron Man manages to effect a flat look at the man.

"Right, well," Phil says. "If you are satisfied with the contract, we have plane at the ready to take us to Afghanistan, where we can –"

"Yeah, here's the thing," Stark interrupts him. "Iron Man can make it there on his own way ahead of you, and having him sit around in a plane for – how long would it take on a military transport? Twenty-eight – thirty hours? Well that's just a waste of everyone's time. So, you go there, you let us know, and Iron Man will catch up with you."

Phil blinks and then gives Stark a slightly concerned look. "How fast precisely –?"

"Eh," Stark says, waving a hand. "Way faster than any plane you'll be on."

Phil narrows his eyes and he's tempted to try and requisition the use of a Quinjet, just to be petty. Probably better not – waste of agency funding, that. "Guess we'll meet Iron Man there, then, for further debriefing," is all he says.

Stark grins. "You will indeed," he says, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and looks at the robot. "Baby's first secret mission. You'll make daddy proud, won't you?"

Iron Man shakes his head and lets out a static noise, a robotic sigh. "If that's all, Agent Coulson, I think it's time we go. I'll be looking forward to working with you."

"Likewise," Phil says, blinking, and watches as Iron Man ushers his still grinning maker out of the room. Then he's left alone – with the realisation that the mission is, indeed, a go.

He manages to smother the urge to fist pump, but there's maybe a little more spring in his step when he heads out. Just a little. 

* * *

Iron Man meets them eventually in the camp where Natasha has begun the preliminary work on planning the assault, putting together a projected timeline before leaving them to it. There are two other agents there, getting ready, and Phil brings with him additional three, bringing their numbers to the total of seven SHIELD agents and one killer robot. Or six, discounting Natasha, who wouldn't be taking part in the actual assault. Phil can only hope that the robot's reputation isn't without merit and that the robot would even the odds – otherwise they'd be woefully outnumbered and he'd probably come to regret keeping her in reserve.

Then Iron Man descends from the sky in a rush of repulsor fire like a missile launching backwards, coming to drop down just in front of their tents as all the agents stare. The repulsors cut off, and then Iron Man stands before them, gleaming under the sunlight and, well.

"Welcome to Afghanistan," Phil says, after a moment. Iron Man definitely knows how to make an entrance. Damn. Hopefully someone got it on video.

"I'd say it's good to be back, but…" Iron Man says, which makes someone behind Phil let out an incredulous noise. The robot, if he hears it, doesn't seem to react. "Nice place you got here."

"Thanks – please, come this way, we have prepared a debriefing for you," Phil says.

Thankfully it doesn't take long for the other agents to get over their amazement about a robot cracking lame jokes, and they don't spend the whole debriefing staring at Iron Man like he's an exhibit at a show. Phil feels almost sad that Romanoff isn't there – she's running interference and keeping watch, and even if she wasn't, Phil isn't about to bring her into the view of Iron Man's cameras, not when there's a very good chance they might need her undercover at Stark Industries in the future. 

"So, basically, you surround the place, cover the exits, and I go in there guns blazing?" Iron Man asks after they're done explaining the plan.

"That's… the gist of it, yes," Phil agrees.

"Hm," the robot answers dubiously. "What about prisoners?"

"I'm sorry?"

"It says there that some of these guys are traveling with an entourage, and at least one is bringing their _kids_ to the meeting. What's the chances that a thirteen year old kid is already a murderous terrorist? Willingly, anyway."

Phil hesitates. "You have issues with potential collateral damage?"

Iron Man looks at him. "I don't kill innocents," he says. "And I don't kill _kids_."

Someone opens their mouth, and Phil gives them a quick glance. "From what I heard, you killed everyone at the Ten Rings camp," he points out carefully.

"None of them were innocent or a kid. They were all of them murderers."

"How can you know that?"

"Just do," Iron Man says and straightens his back with the sounds of whirring gears and shifting plates. "I have non-lethal means of subduing people, which I was planning to use anyway, we want Stane alive, after all – what are you going to do with the prisoners afterwards?"

Well. This became slightly more complicated, but – it is somewhat comforting that the supposed killer robot had a conscience. "We will question them and treat them accordingly," Phil says, while taking out his phone to fire a quick message to Natasha – they're going to be needing help handing captives. "Known wanted terrorists will be taken into SHIELD captivity and taken to a hosting facility to await further investigation."

Iron Man stares at him – though how much of it is necessary, Phil isn't sure. Could be that the Iron Man had a 360 degree view and only turns to face people as a preprogrammed feature to put people around him at ease – or unease, as being stared at by a metal faceplate with glowing eyeholes isn't exactly comforting. What the robot sees is anyone's guess, but after a while he nods. "Alright then. If you think that's the way to do it."

And so, the plan is a go, and Phil has another item to add to Iron Man's personality profile – doesn't kill innocents, doesn't kill kids. It wouldn't be to his favour in some circles, but it's definitely a point in his favour with Phil.

* * *

It doesn't go without a hitch. _No plan survives contact with the enemy_ applies even with Iron Man, it seems, and though the plan had a lot of leeway to begin with, it also gives a lot of potential weak points for it to go very wrong. And Stane is prepared for them – maybe even expecting them.

Iron Man has only managed to kill or subdue some third of the guards at the man's new, vaguely Mediterranean mansion before the whole area is hit with a powerful EMP – powerful enough to knock off the power for the whole city block and fry every bit of electronics Phil and his agents have at their disposal.

"Shit," Phil says, eloquently, and then takes the safety off his gun and rushes in. "Secure Iron Man – quickly!"

The mansion is impressive, but thankfully It's old enough to be predictable in its layout, and the trail of dropped bodies leads Phil and his agents right to the scene of the action.

In a corridor flanked on each side by impressive sculptures, Iron Man stands stock still, frozen, surrounded by armed men as Stane walks over with a confident swagger, laughing.

"Oh, Tony really outdid himself, didn't he?" he says, while Phil motions his agents to take cover. "You know, I didn't pay much mind to his little cave project when it was just some missile scrap he was working with – but this is something else, isn't it? And he even gave you his new arc reactor for you to deliver it to me – a gift wrapped in shining new armour. Tony is too kind, isn't he?"

Iron Man doesn't answer, standing stock still like a statue as Stane puts hands on his shoulders and then winds an arm around the robot's shoulders, saying, "but I know your secret – your _human_ weakness –"

He stops as iron Man shifts, pulls his arm back, and – from his angle Phil can't see what the robot does, but it definitely has an impact. Obadiah Stane grunts in sudden pain, looks down and then backs away with a stumble – revealing the nearly a foot long blade protruding from under the Iron Man's wrist, gleaming with blood from where it had been imbedded in the man's stomach

And then the hallway is full of noise as Stane's guards take aim and fire.

"Take cover!" Phil shouts, but it's too late – the ricochet gets _everywhere._ He can see at least one of his agents being hit with it before they duck behind a corner and out of danger.

The storm of ricochet bullets lasts maybe for thirty seconds, and it covers the cries of the guards being hit by their own shots bouncing back. By the time the noise dies down, there's a lot of pained moaning in the hallway – and Iron Man is still standing there, not moving.

"... Back," the robot then says and turns his head to the remaining guards, his eyes relighting as systems power back on. "My turn."

It's over in less than a minute– a panel opens in the robot's back, and a target-seeking bullet finds its mark, and the rest of the enemies left standing hit the floor – joining Obadiah, who's bleeding out fast.

"Well," Iron Man says, looking down at the man, who is trying to crawl away and keep himself from bleeding out, and neither is going how he's planning. "... shit."

Phil cautiously steps around the corner, looking over the men on the floor. "Self-defence, clearly," he says slowly. "You were attacked, and it was entirely merited."

Iron Man doesn't answer, kneeling beside Obadiah and turning the man around. "You have less than two minutes before you will bleed out, and there's nothing we can do about it," he says as the former CFO of Stark Industries chokes out a mouthful of blood. "Do you have anything to say?"

Stane laughs, bloody and wretched. "I told them – I told everyone. Everyone – who cares," he says. "They'll come for you. Tony can't protect you."

"That's really what you want your final words to be?" Iron Man asks dubiously.

Stane spits blood at him – it lands on the faceplate's chin and trickles down sluggishly. "Tell Tony I'll see his father in hell," he says and then resolutely keeps his mouth shut, as blood bubbles from the wound in his side and his lips go blue.

Iron Man doesn't say anything, as the light in Stane's eyes dies and he goes still. Only then he speaks again. "Requiescat in pace," he says quietly, reaching to close Stane's eyes. 

It's… not what one might expect from a killer robot, but Phil is starting to get the feeling that maybe Iron Man has been overly sensationalised a bit too much by the media – and maybe there's more than meets the eye when it comes to Stark's AI.

"Are you alright?" Phil asks. 

"Everything's rebooted alright," Iron Man says and stands up.

"There are still hostiles on the premises," Phil says. "Can you deal with them?"

Iron Man is quiet for a moment, scanning the hall. Phil follows his gaze – or at least looks where Iron Man's faceplate is pointed. Aside from Stane, there are six dead men on the floor, and two of Phil's agents are injured thanks to ricochet – and he's not sure about their odds.

Iron Man turns. "The EMP came from the second floor – secure whatever caused it, and I'll deal with the rest."

Phil considers what he knows of the building layout. "You got it," he says.

Iron Man nods and gets back to work, stepping over Obadiah Stane without so much as a backwards glance.

* * *

The final tally of the mission is seventeen dead – mostly guards who put up a fight – and eight captured, of which three are technically civilians. The moment the EMP struck, Stane's new business partners scattered, or tried to – one of them the agents catch on his way to the back door, another two Iron Man gets with his sleeping darts, and the rest get away.

It's not quite the result Phil wanted, but it definitely gets him a good idea of Iron Man's capabilities – and even more of the robot's personality. The full analysis would likely take weeks, if not months, to work out, and even then there was no knowing how reliable it would be. Technology progresses faster and faster these days, after all – how settled an AI's personality is… is still anyone's guess, really. Stark's guess in particular, maybe. Would Iron Man change as things went along? It would be interesting to see, if nothing else.

Still, Iron Man is a solid _maybe_ for the Avengers Initiative.

"You liked him?" Fury clarifies wryly.

"I did, sir," Phil agrees without shame. Iron Man just as a concept makes him a little giddy for the future, and there's no point in denying it. But... "It's still too early to tell though – give him a year or two to find his footing and see what comes of Stark Industries – and Tony Stark in particular – and then reassess the situation."

"What was your read on Stark – how did after action debriefing with him go?"

Stark had been mildly annoyed about Iron Man being EMP'd, and promised the robot that he'd be upgraded so that it would never happen again – all the while rubbing Iron Man's arms and chest rather suggestively. Iron Man had taken the treatment with what felt like stoic resignation.

"Stark was happy to go along with the cover story," Phil says. "As far as anyone will know, Obadiah Stane had an altercation on his private jet, and it led to a terrible accident when a firearm went off inside and breached the hull. Assumably, one of his employees had qualms about the terrorism and treason. There were no survivors."

"And Iron Man was in no way involved, and so neither is Stark Industries," Fury agrees. "Good. And Stark himself? How was he about letting Iron Man play outside?"

Honestly seemed _more_ than thrilled about it. "I think he cares for and trusts Iron Man implicitly," Phil says diplomatically. "He seems open to Iron Man going on missions, granted, with supervision. Apparently Stark has a constant visual on all of Iron Man's systems."

"Do you think Stark's backseat driving?"

Phil considers that for a moment. "I couldn't tell. If there was any backseat driving going on, it didn't slow Iron Man's reaction times as far as I could tell – the incident with the EMP notwithstanding. He was somewhat stilted occasionally, but in combat situations he never lagged."

Fury hums thoughtfully. "Right. And what are our chances of securing Iron Man's assistance in the future?"

That's the thing. Phil isn't sure he made that great an impression on the robot. Once everything was said and done, Phil had asked him how he'd liked the mission.

 _"Eh. It's not how I would've gone about it, but I figure you're the professionals, so you know better,"_ the robot said and then added, more concerningly _, "I really need to ask Mr. Stark about stealth features – walking in through the front door isn't really my style."_

Phil has to admit to himself that he had utilised Iron Man as something of a blunt force weapon, because the common consensus on the robot was a _walking talking tank_. Turns out, the robot himself sees his role as more of a precision tool. Which Phil really probably should've given more thought, having seen the action analysis on the Ten Rings camp.

Hindsight is always twenty twenty… and he really wanted to see what the robot could do, going all out. If he even went all out.

"I think it needs to be reconsidered on a case by case basis," Phil says. "I think the outlook is positive – but I recommend we give it due time, and see what Stark does next."

Fury is quiet for a moment. "I'll take that under advisement," he says then. "Do you think there's any chance of uncoupling Iron Man from Stark?"

"I think there's a possibility," Phil admits. He knows SHIELD engineers probably could figure out how the robot was put together and do his maintenance, and whatever else was needed, maybe even reverse engineer him. But… "But I think doing it at this stage would be wasteful." Never mind the fact that they would probably have to assassinate Stark to keep him from making another robot to send it after the first, and then they'd be on a very slippery slope.

"Stark had just started," Phil continues. "The current Iron Man is still only barely past prototype stages. Stark will be upgrading him, likely already is, and I personally wouldn't like to be the one to put a wrench into those particular gears."

Fury makes a sound of agreement. "Alright, Coulson, I've heard enough. We'll put Iron Man down as a _potential Avengers candidate_ and keep watching. Good work."

"Sir," Phil agrees and lowers the phone as Fury hangs up on him.

"So," Natasha says from the other end of the couch. "What are the chances of a robot uprising and all our jobs being lost to automation?"

"Well," Phil muses and reaches for a can of soda. "If the uprising starts with Iron Man, I'm not too worried. He seemed like a decent guy."

"Decent robot overlords," Natasha hums, shaking her head with amusement. "How about that."

"Can't do worse than humans already have," Phil says and opens his soda. "So, what's this one called?"

Natasha checks the front cover of the movie they're about to watch. "Italian Steel," she says and shows him the front cover. The _Italian Steel_ in this case seems to be the main male lead's abs, as there's no room for anything else. "Found it in a bargain bin – and don't worry, I checked, it's not porn."

Phil snorts. "I'll drink to that."

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it for stuff I have pre-prepared. I have no idea when next part will be out, if ever - I had fun plans of the semi-cracky not-at-all-serious kind, but... I don't really feel right writing fun things, you know? World is a stressful place right now and I just don't have in me to write crack. Or anything, really.
> 
> But I hope this satisfied some of those "can't wait other people to meet Desmond" needs.


End file.
